Eureka EasyClean Lightweight Handheld Vacuum Cleaner, Hand Vac Corded, 71B, EasyClean-Yellow

'Caveat emptor' should be a caution against not just unscrupulous sellers, but misguided buyers as well, a self-warning of sorts. To that end, I read all ~1600 reviews of the Eureka, paying special heed to the three percent or so that awarded it one star. Call this a meta review. My conclusion after a complex and detailed statistical and psychological analysis of the complaints is that the hand-held vacuum was being misused, abused in some cases. After a few months of use, I agree with all the positives: Eureka is powerful & easy to use, the brush enhances cleaning power, the canister is a snap to empty, and the filter creates a nice, tight seal. As for the complaints..."Vacuum stopped working after X uses/N years." That was the predominant complaint, sparks and smoke and vacuum broke. Many of the reviewers who sent their Eurekas to the Great Vacuum too soon seemed to be using them as replacements for full-sized vacuum cleaners: three flights of stairs, several area rugs, hotel lobbies, etc. I planned to use mine to clean up the occasional kitchen spill and kitty-litter dusting--no sucking marathons, just little sprints here and there. Could there have been honestly defective units among these? Sure! I mean, the FDA allows for up to 60 insect fragments per 3.5 oz of chocolate, so a defect in three out of every 1000 Eurekas is nothing to get all huffy and litigious about."Vacuum is too heavy." Again, an easy-to-dismiss complaint for me. Step 1: read product specs and ascertain that product weighs 7 pounds. Step 2: lift a bag of potatoes to get a feel for what 7 pounds is like. Step 3: conclude that I can hold seven pounds for the thirty seconds or so it will take me to clean up the flour and popcorn that have peppered the kitchen floor. Step 4: be pleasantly surprised that the 7 pounds referred to the shipping weight, and that the Eureka sans box weighs (according to my bathroom scale) a featherlight 5.4 pounds. Step 5: determine that if the Eureka were a bar of chocolate, then the FDA would be OK if it contained up to 1500 insect fragments."Vacuum blows dust everywhere." This was perhaps the most serious of the warnings that I read. After all, vacuums need to exhaust all that air somewhere, and I have noticed this issue with some uprights, especially on hardwood & tile floors. I took solace in the overwhelmingly positive reviews, especially those that addressed the suck-and-blow issues. In particular, one reviewer noted that the vacuuming should be done by pushing the Eureka away from you and not towards you since the exhaust was stronger under the Eureka's belly. That's how I vacuum anyway--plus, I identified, since the exhaust is stronger under my belly as well--so I took a chance. So far, there has been no exhaust problem, no blowing stuff around."Power cord is hard to store." As I see it, there are four options for power cord management. Option one: get a cordless handheld vacuum, put up with weaker suction, leave unit constantly charging and sucking power, replace batteries every couple of years once they reach the end of their recharge cycle. Option two: get a short-corded handheld vacuum and plan to spill beans only near electrical outlets. Option three: get one of those internal-storage crank widgets that are a pain to operate or else spring-loaded with an angry and temperamental spring. Option four: to store, wrap the long cord around the base in the time that it takes you to say wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap wrap."Hose suction is weak." Nope, it's strong. The same motor powers both the hose and the main unit. And the hose is ridiculously easy to use, requiring none of the attach/detach acrobatics of most vacuums."Vacuum requires screwdriver to turn on." This must have been written by Edward's younger brother, Johnny Screwdriverhands."Vacuum doesn't work in Australia." Well that settles it then: I'm not moving to Australia.

First, i want to state that i have only had this system for 1 week. I will alter my review if i come across issues in the future, but here are my notes so far. Also, i purchased this specifically for stairs and small crevices.PROS:1. Cord-The cord was shorter than my old handvac so i was concerned it wouldnt reach up all my stairs but it did. I have 13 stairs (including very top step) and it reached slightly further than that top step.2. Bagless Canister-i am not a big fan of these mostly because i tend to make more of a mess trying to detach and shake it off in the trash, not to mention im a little weird about touching the dirt once its in the canister. I found this canister much easier to get off than my old one, easy to empty without getting my hands to gross. I think i did pick up a lot of carpet fuzz which really sticks to the filter so be sure to clear it out of the system with shut off to protect from overheating.3. Power-This was crazy awesome. This system (version) had more than enough power. I vacuumed with my upright vacuum and then went over the same area with hand vac and i picked up a lot. In fact if you have older carpet it tends to pick up a lot of carpet fuzz as well which can quickly clog filter.4. Exhaust-i have decorative greenery around the ballisters on half of the stairs and little soft pieces are constantly falling off. This was an issue with my old hand vac where the exhaust would blow them all over the exhaust came out the sides. This system blows toward the back and i didnt have any issue with that here.CONS:1. Weight-This hand vac is heavier than my old one. However, i use this mainly for stairs and crevices so i won't be using it for extended time, making the weight not much of an issue for me. Also, it seemed that the weight of it aided in its pickup. My old hand vac i had to move it with one hand and stabilize-press down with another to really get the deep dirt. i don't need to do that with this system.2. Power-In a way, it actually had too much power in that it is hard to move the vacuum forward on carpet. But when using my old hand vac i always moved pulling back rather than pushing forward so i prefer this direction and it wasn't much of an issue for me. Also, on my living room, i realized i can easily move it forward if i let the system hover very slightly above the carpet rather than letting it ride down in the carpet. Basically lifting it every slightly not letting the weight of the system press it down.3. The Handle-The handle is rounded on the bottom but square edges on the top. Though the square edges could hurt or feel uncomfortable after a while, i have smaller hands and i think the bulkiness was more of an issue than it being square.4. Noise-Yes, this hand vac is loud, but it didn't seem louder than my old one. If you have sensitive ears like mine a simple set of ear plugs is a good idea.ADDRESSING Some Issues Stated in low reviews1. Hose Suction-i have found this very strong, not weak at all.There was a comment that if the hose gets clogged there is no way to clear this out. First suggestion would be to have caution when using this to not accidently pick up things like paper or kleenex as this could very easily clog it. If you think it is clogged try to straighten out the hose so its trajectory is straight in direction to the angle of the base of hose, sometimes things get clogged because the hose is bent. Though i'd really like to add that when the hose is at its shortest its probably about a foot and a half, so if you cant reach the clog from the free end just take off the canister which is where the other end of the hose is....2. Cord wrap-this was a great feature and works well. My 9 year old was able to use it and wrap it back up with no issues.3. Exhaust-the air does come out quite strong out of the back of the device. i have not had an issue of this since i use it primarily for the stairs. This could be an issue with hard floors.4. Shutting off feature-i made it up most of my stairs when the system shut itself off. I realized that the filter was covered with carpet fuzz. I dumped the canister and it started back up without any issue. (again i have only had this for 1 week)5. Opening canister and filter-This canister was much easier than my old hand vac to get on and off, yet secure enough there were no leaks. Filter also came off with no issue for myself.As i use this vac i will update if there are any issues. Though one could look at it and say "it was only $40" for me $40 is still an investment and it shouldn't only last a year or less. It should last longer. I hope others have as good of luck as i have had.